Double sided wire grid polarizer

ABSTRACT

A wire grid polarizer ( 100 ) for polarizing an incident light beam ( 130 ), comprising a substrate ( 505 ) having a first surface ( 410 ) and a second surface ( 510 ); and a first array of parallel, elongated wires disposed on the first surface ( 410 ). Each of the wires are spaced apart at a grid period less than a wavelength of the incident light; and a second array of parallel, elongated wires disposed on said second surface ( 420 ) where the second array of wires are oriented parallel to the first array of wires.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/977,544, filedOct. 15, 2001.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention generally relates to wire grid polarizersand their use in a modulation optical system. The present inventionrelates in particular to double sided wire grid polarizers andbeamsplitters for the visible spectrum, and the use of these doublesided wire grid polarizers within a modulation optical system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The use of an array of parallel conducting wires to polarizeradio waves dates back more than 110 years. Wire grids, generally in theform of an array of thin parallel conductors supported by a transparentsubstrate, have also been used as polarizers for the infrared portion ofthe electromagnetic spectrum.

[0004] The key factor that determines the performance of a wire gridpolarizer is the relationship between the center-to-center spacing,sometimes referred to as period or pitch, of the parallel grid elementsand the wavelength of the incident light. If the grid spacing or periodis long compared to the wavelength, the grid functions as a diffractiongrating, rather than as a polarizer, and diffracts both polarizations,not necessarily with equal efficiency, according to well-knownprinciples. However, when the grid spacing (p) is much shorter than thewavelength, the grid functions as a polarizer that reflectselectromagnetic radiation polarized parallel (“s” polarization) to thegrid, and transmits radiation of the orthogonal polarization (“p”polarization). The transition region, where the grid period is in therange of roughly one-half of the wavelength to twice the wavelength, ischaracterized by abrupt changes in the transmission and reflectioncharacteristics of the grid. In particular, an abrupt increase inreflectivity, and corresponding decrease in transmission, for lightpolarized orthogonal to the grid elements will occur at one or morespecific wavelengths at any given angle of incidence. These effects werefirst reported by Wood in 1902, and are often referred to as “Wood'sAnomalies.” Subsequently, in 1907, Rayleigh analyzed Wood's data and hadthe insight that the anomalies occur at combinations of wavelength andangle where a higher diffraction order emerges. Rayleigh developedfollowing equation to predict the location of the anomalies, which arealso commonly referred to in the literature as “Rayleigh Resonances.”

λ=ε(n±sin θ)/k   (1)

[0005] wherein epsilon (ε) is the grating period; n is the refractiveindex of the medium surrounding the grating; k is an integercorresponding to the order of the diffracted term that is emerging; andlambda and theta are the wavelength and incidence angel (both measuredin air) where the resonance occurs.

[0006] For gratings formed on one side of a dielectric substrate, n inthe above equation may be equal to either 1, or to the refractive indexof the substrate material. Note that the longest wavelength at which aresonance occurs is given by the following formula:

λ=ε(n+sin θ)   (2)

[0007] where n is set to be the refractive index of the substrate.

[0008] The effect of the angular dependence is to shift the transmissionregion to larger wavelengths as the angle increases. This is importantwhen the polarizer is intended for use as a polarizing beamsplitter orpolarizing turning mirror.

[0009] In general, a wire grid polarizer will reflect light with itselectric field vector parallel (“s” polarization) to the wires of thegrid, and transmit light with its electric field vector perpendicular(“p” polarization) to the wires of the grid, but the plane of incidencemay or may not be perpendicular to the wires of the grid as discussedhere. Ideally, the wire grid polarizer will function as a perfect mirrorfor one polarization of light, such as the S polarized light, and willbe perfectly transparent for the other polarization, such as the Ppolarized light. In practice, however, even the most reflective metalsused as mirrors absorb some fraction of the incident light and reflectonly 90% to 95%, and plain glass does not transmit 100% of the incidentlight due to surface reflections. The performance of wire gridpolarizers, and indeed other polarization devices, is mostlycharacterized by the contrast ratio, or extinction ratio, as measuredover the range of wavelengths and incidence angles of interest. For awire grid polarizer or polarization beamsplitter, the contrast ratiosfor the transmitted beam (Tp/Ts) and the reflected beam (Rs/Rp) may bothbe of interest.

[0010] Historically, wire grid polarizers were developed for use in theinfrared, but were unavailable for visible wavelengths. Primarily, thisis because processing technologies were incapable of producing smallenough sub-wavelength structures for effective operation in the visiblespectrum. Nominally, the grid spacing or pitch (p) should be less than˜λ/5 for effective operation (for p˜0.10-0.13 μm for visiblewavelengths), while even finer pitch structures (p˜λ/10 for example) canprovide further improvements to device contrast. However, with recentadvances in processing technologies, including 0.13 μm extreme UVphotolithography and interference lithography, visible wavelength wiregrid structures have become feasible. Although there are severalexamples of visible wavelength wire grid polarizers devices known in theart, these devices do not provide the very high extinction ratios(>1,000:1) across broadband visible spectra needed for demandingapplications, such as for digital cinema projection.

[0011] An interesting wire grid polarizer is described by Garvin et al.in U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,381, in which two or more wire grids residing onone side of a single substrate are separated by a thin dielectricinterlayer. Each of the wire grids are deposited separately, and thewires are thick enough (100-1000 nm) to function as a polarizer withoutsignificant light leakage through the metal wires. As the dielectricinterlayer is thick enough to avoid resonance, the wire gridseffectively multiply, such that while any single wire grid may onlyprovide 500:1 polarization contrast, in combination a pair or grids maytheoretically provide 250,000:1. This device is described relative tousage in the infrared spectrum (2-100 μm), although presumably theconcepts are extendable to visible wavelengths. However, as this deviceemploys two or more wire grids in a series, the additional contrastratio is exchanged for reduced transmission efficiency and angularacceptance. Furthermore, the device is not designed for high qualityextinction for the reflected beam, which places some limits on its valueas a polarization beamsplitter.

[0012] A wire grid polarization beamsplitter for the visible wavelengthrange is described by Hegg et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,053, in whichthe metal wires (with pitch p<<λ and ˜150 nm features) are deposited ontop of metal grid lines, each of which are deposited onto glass orplastic substrate. While this device is designed to cover much of thevisible spectrum (0.45-0.65 μm), the anticipated polarizationperformance is rather modest, delivering an overall contrast ratio ofonly 6.3:1.

[0013] Tamada et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,368, describes a wire gridpolarizer for the near infrared spectrum (0.8-0.95 μm) in which thestructure of the wires is shaped in order to enhance performance. Inthis case, operation in the near infrared spectrum is achieved with awire structure with a long grid spacing (λ/2<p<λ) rather than thenominal small grid spacing (p˜λ/5) by exploiting one of the resonancesin the transition region between the wire grid polarizer and thediffraction grating. The wires, each ˜140 nm thick, are deposited on aglass substrate in an assembly with wedge plates. In particular, thedevice uses a combination of trapezoidal wire shaping, index matchingbetween the substrate and a wedge plate, and incidence angle adjustmentto tune the device operation to hit a resonance band. While this deviceprovides reasonable extinction of ˜35:1, which would be useful for manyapplications, this contrast is inadequate for applications, such asdigital cinema, which require higher performance. Furthermore, thisdevice only operates properly within narrow wavelength bands (˜25 nm)and the device is rather angularly sensitive (a 2° shift in incidenceangle shifts the resonance band by ˜30 nm). These considerations alsomake the device unsuitable for broadband wavelength applications inwhich the wire grid device must operate in “fast” optical system (suchas F/2.5).

[0014] Most recently, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,108,131 (Hansen et al.),6,122,103 (Perkins et al.) and 6,243,199 (Hansen et al.), all assignedto Moxtek Inc., or Orem, Utah, describe wire grid polarizer devicesdesigned for the visible spectrum. U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,131 describes astraightforward wire grid polarizer designed to operate in the visibleregion of the spectrum. The wire grid nominally consists of a series ofindividual wires fabricated directly on a substrate with a ˜0.13 μmgridline spacing (p˜λ/5), wire nominal width of 0.052-0.078 μm wide (w),and wire thickness (t) greater than 0.02 μm. By using wires of ˜0.13 μmgrid spacing or pitch, this device has the required sub-visiblewavelength structure to allow it to generally operate above the longwavelength resonance band and in the wire grid region. U.S. Pat. No.6,122,103 proposes a variety of improvements to the basic wire gridstructure directed to broadening the wavelength spectrum and improvingthe efficiency and contrast across the wavelength spectrum of usewithout requiring finer pitch structures (such as ˜λ/10). Basically, avariety of techniques are employed to reduce the effective refractiveindex (n) in the medium surrounding the wire grid, in order to shift thelongest wavelength resonance band to shorter wavelengths (see equations(1) and (2)). This is accomplished most simply by coating the glasssubstrate with a dielectric layer which functions as ananti-reflectional (AR) coating, and then fabricating the wire grid ontothis intermediate dielectric layer. The intermediate dielectric layereffectively reduces the refractive index experienced by the light at thewire grid, thereby shifting the longest wavelength resonance shorter.U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,103 also describes alternate designs where theeffective index is reduced by forming grooves in the spaces between thewires, such that the grooves extend into the substrate itself, and/orinto the intermediate dielectric layer which is deposited on thesubstrate. As a result of these design improvements, the low wavelengthband edge shifts ˜50-75 nm lower, allowing coverage of the entirevisible spectrum. Furthermore, the average efficiency is improved by ˜5%across the visible spectrum over the basic prior art wire gridpolarizer. By comparison, U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,199 patent describes howto optimize wire pitch (p), wire thickness(t), wire width (w), and wireprofile in order to control throughput and contrast for visible wiregrid polarizers.

[0015] Although these new visible spectrum wire grid polarizers andpolarization beam splitters provide enhanced contrast compared to thestandard technologies (for example the MacNielle prism, U.S. Pat. No.2,403,731), some applications require complex polarization opticsarrangements to obtain the desired contrast levels, which can utilizemore than one wire grid device. For example, to attain the 1,000:1⁺system contrast required of a digital cinema projection system, amodulation optical system that includes two wire grid polarizers and onewire grid polarization beam splitter may be utilized. An electronicprojection system of this type may use high modulation contrast liquidcrystal displays (LCDs) and high power (up to 6 kW) xenon arc lamps todeliver 1,000:1 system CR and 10,000 screen lumens. The design of such asystem is complicated by the effects of thermal loading on the opticalcomponents, mechanical fixtures, and electrical circuitry. Inparticular, thermal loading of the polarization optics (LCDs, polarizersand the polarization beam splitter) can cause stress birefringence,thereby reducing the screen contrast. Furthermore, thermal loading ofthe polarization beam splitter, and in particular a sheet polarizingbeam splitter (such as a wire grid device) can cause surface profiledeformations which could effect the wavefront quality of the imagebearing light beam. This can in turn translate into a degradation of thescreen resolution of the projected image.

[0016] Therefore it is desirable to provide enhanced wire gridpolarization beam splitters which have reduced sensitivity to thermalstress, and which can therefore improve the optical performance of themodulation optical system in which they reside.

[0017] Furthermore, it is desirable to provide an enhanced wire gridpolarization beam splitter which provides enhanced polarizationperformance over those devices known in the prior art. In particular,while the devices described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,108,131, 6,122,103 and6,243,199 are definite improvements over the prior art, there are yetfurther opportunities for performance improvements for both wire gridpolarizers and polarization beamsplitters. For example, in electronicprojection systems utilizing reflective LCD modulators, the imagebearing light interacts with the PBS both in reflection andtransmission. Thus, having high polarization extinction for both thereflected and transmitted beams is valuable. As the commerciallyavailable wire grid polarizers from Moxtek provide only ˜20:1 contrastfor the reflected channel, rather than 100:1 or even 2,000:1, the designof optical systems using these devices must be configured, with somedifficulty, to compensate for the low reflective contrast. Additionally,the performance of these devices varies considerably across the visiblespectrum, with the polarization beamsplitter providing contrast ratiosfor the transmitted beam varying from ˜300:1 to ˜1200:1 from blue tored, while the reflected beam contrast ratios vary from 10:1 to 30:1.Thus, there are opportunities to provide polarization contrastperformance in the blue portion of the visible spectrum in particular,as well as more uniform extinction across the visible. There are alsoopportunities to improve the combined polarization contrast and lightefficiency for the transmitted p-polarization light beyond the levelsprovided by prior art wire grid devices.

[0018] Thus, there exists a need for an improved wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter, particularly for use in visible light systems requiringbroad wavelength bandwidth and high contrast (target of 1,000:1 orgreater). In addition, there exists a need for such an improved wiregrid polarization beam splitter for use at incidence angles of about 45degrees.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0019] A wire grid polarizer for polarizing an incident light beam,comprising a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, anda first array of parallel, elongated conducting wires disposed on saidfirst surface. Each of the wires are spaced apart at a grid period lessthan a wavelength of the incident light. A second array of parallel,elongated conducting wires disposed on the second surface where thesecond array of wires are oriented parallel to the first array of wires.The wires of the second array are likewise spaced apart at a grid periodless than a wavelength of the incident light.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art wire grid polarizer.

[0021]FIGS. 2a and 2 b are plots illustrating the relative performanceor prior art wire grid polarizers and polarization beamsplittersdesigned to operate within the visible spectrum.

[0022]FIGS. 3a and 3 b are plots of transmitted, reflected, and overallpolarization contrast ratios vs. wavelength in the visible spectrum fora wire grid polarization beamsplitter of a type described in the priorart.

[0023]FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view showing a modulation opticalsystem which includes a wire grid polarization beamsplitter.

[0024]FIG. 5 is a detailed cross sectional view of the double sided wiregrid polarizer of the present invention.

[0025]FIGS. 6a and 6 b are cross sectional views showing modulationoptical systems utilizing the double sided wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter of the present invention.

[0026]FIGS. 7a-7 g are graphic plots showing wire grid performancecharacteristics of related to design of a double sided wire gridpolarizer of the present invention.

[0027]FIGS. 8a-8 d are cross sectional views of various wire structureswhich could be employed in the wire grid polarizer of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] Reference will now be made to the drawings in which the variouselements of the present invention will be given numerical designationsand in which the invention will be discussed so as to enable one skilledin the art to make and use the invention.

[0029]FIG. 1 illustrates a basic prior art wire grid polarizer anddefines terms that will be used in a series of illustrative examples ofthe prior art and the present invention. The wire grid polarizer 100 iscomprised of a multiplicity of parallel conductive electrodes 110supported by a dielectric substrate 120. This device is characterized bythe grating spacing or pitch or period of the conductors, designated(p); the width of the individual conductors, designated (w); the dutycycle (w/p) and the thickness of the conductors, designated (t).Nominally, a wire grid polarizer uses sub-wavelength structures, suchthat the pitch (p), conductor or wire width (w), and the conductor orwire thickness (t) are all less than the wavelength of incident light(λ). As the conductive electrodes are required to be highly electricallyconductive, these wires are nominally metallic, and are for example,made of aluminum. A beam of light 130 produced by a light source 132 isincident on the polarizer at an angle 0 from normal, with the plane ofincidence orthogonal to the conductive elements. The wire grid polarizer100 divides this beam into specular non-diffracted outgoing light beams;reflected light beam 140 and transmitted light beam 150. The definitionsfor S and P polarization used are that S polarized light is light withits polarization vector parallel to the conductive elements, while Ppolarized light has its polarization vector orthogonal to the conductiveelements.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 2a there is shown, for wavelengths within thevisible spectrum, the transmission efficiency curve 200 and thetransmitted “p” polarization contrast ratio curve 205 for a commerciallyavailable wire grid polarization beamsplitter from Moxtek Inc., of Orem,Utah. This device is similar to the basic wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,131, which has ˜130 nmpitch (p˜λ/5) aluminum wires (parallel conductive electrodes 110) madewith a 40-60% duty cycle (52-78 nm wire width (w)) deposited on adielectric substrate 120. The solid metal wires are nominally 100-150 nmthick, which provides sufficient metal thickness to exceed the skindepth (δ) of the metal layer in the visible spectrum, thereby enhancingthe device contrast. (Skin depth is an estimate of the metal layerthickness at which light tunneling through the layer is minimal.) Thisdata is representative for this device for a modest NA (numericalaperture) light beam, incident on the wire grid polarization beamsplitter 100 at an angle of incidence (θ) of 45°. As this device dividesthe incident beam of light 130 into two outgoing polarized beams (140and 150), that travel paths spatially distinguishable from the incominglight path, this device is considered to be a polarizing beamsplitter.The transmitted contrast ratio curve 205 measures the average contrastof the transmitted “p” polarized light, relative to the transmitted “s”polarized light (Tp/Ts), where the “s” polarized light is undesirableleakage. Likewise, the reflected contrast ratio curve 210 measures theaverage contrast of the reflected “s” polarized light relative to the“p” polarized light (Rs/Rp). As measured across the visible spectrumfrom blue to red, the transmitted contrast ranges from ˜300-1200:1 whilethe reflected contrast ranges from ˜10-40:1.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 2b, there is shown for wavelengths within thevisible spectrum, the average performance for a commercially availablewire grid polarizer from Moxtek which is designed for use with normallyincident (θ=0°) beam of light 130. In particular, the transmissionefficiency curve 220 and the transmitted contrast ratio curve 225, areprovided (for “p” polarized light). In this case, the measuredtransmitted contrast exceeds 200:1 for much of the green and redspectra. The performance of both of these devices, relative to contrast,wavelength response, angular response, transmission, and robustness isvery good as compared to the historically available alternatives, and issatisfactory for many applications. It should be noted that the wiregrid designs for the wire grid polarizer (used at normal incidence) andthe wire grid polarization beam splitter (used at non-normal incidence)may be different and optimized for their intended uses.

[0032] The preferred spatial relationships of these polarizers, as usedin a modulation optical system 300, are illustrated in FIG. 4.Modulation optical system 300, which is a portion of an electronicprojection system, comprises an incoming illumination light beam 320,focused through prepolarizer 330, wire grid polarization beamsplitter340, optional compensator 360, and onto spatial light modulator 310 (theLCD) by a condensor 325. A modulated, image-bearing light beam isreflected from the surface of spatial light modulator 310, transmittedthrough compensator 360, reflected off the near surface of wire gridpolarization beamsplitter 340, and subsequently transmitted through asecond compensator 365 (optional), a polarization analyzer 370, andrecombination prism 380. Recombination prism 380 is typically anx-prism, although crossed dichroic plates could be used (aside from theresulting tilted plate optical aberrations). The modulation contrastprovided by this system is not only impacted by the performance of theindividual polarization components (spatial light modulator 310,prepolarizer 330, wire grid polarization beamsplitter 340, compensator360, and polarization analyzer 370), but also by performance variabilitywithin these components caused by thermal stress induced birefringencechanges under high heat (light) loads. Likewise, thermal loading cancause surface deformations of these various optics, thereby deformingthe wavefronts of the transiting image bearing light, and thus affectingthe projected on screen image quality (resolution). It is howeverpossible to provide an enhanced wire grid polarization beam splitter340, which will be desensitized to thermally induced changes and alsoprovide optimized performance (relative to contrast and lightefficiency), thereby improving the overall performance of modulationoptical system 300.

[0033] These opportunities can be better understood by first explainingthe performance deficiencies of the existing wire grid devices (see FIG.2a for the wire grid polarization beamsplitter and FIG. 2b for the wiregrid polarizer). In particular, the contrast ratio of the reflected “s”polarized beam is rather low, as measured by the reflected contrastratio curve 210, for the wire grid polarizing beamsplitter. Polarizationcontrast is only ˜10:1 in the blue spectrum (at 450 nm), and even in thered (650 nm), it has risen only to ˜40:1. In the case of modulationoptical system 300 of FIG. 4 applications, where the contrast isdetermined by both reflective and transmissive interactions with thewire grid polarization beam splitter 340, this performance isinsufficient by itself. Additionally, while this prior art wire gridpolarization beamsplitter provides contrast ˜1200:1 in the red, thepolarization varies considerably with wavelength, and falls to ˜400:1 inthe low blue (see again transmitted contrast ratio curve 205 of FIG.2a).

[0034] This assessment of the performance of a prior art wire gridpolarization beamsplitter (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,131) isbetter understood by considering the theoretically calculated reflectedand transmitted polarization contrast ratios. This analysis was modeledusing the Gsolver grating analysis software tool, which allowssub-wavelength structures to be thoroughly modeled using rigorouscoupled wave analysis (RCWA). Gsolver is commercially available fromGrating Solver Development Company, P.O. Box 353, Allen, Tex.

[0035] The wire grid device was modeled as a series of parallelelongated wires formed directly on the transparent glass substrate. Theanalysis assumes an aluminum wire grid with period p=0.13 μm, conductorwidth w=0.052 μm (40% duty cycle), conductor thickness t=0.182 μm, andsubstrate refractive index (n) for Coming 1737f glass. The data used inthe modeling for the optical properties of the metals can be taken fromthe Handbook of Optical Constants of Solids, Part I, Edward D. Palik,Ed., 1985, pp. 369-406, for example. For simplicity, this analysis onlyconsiders a collimated beam incident on the wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter at an angle θ=45°.

[0036]FIG. 3a provides the collimated transmitted beam contrast 250(Tp/Ts) and the collimated reflected beam contrast 255 (Rs/Rp). Thecalculated transmitted beam contrast 250 ranges from 10⁴-10⁵:1 acrossthe visible spectrum, which is much greater than the ˜1,000:1 levelsreported for the actual device, as shown in FIG. 2a. However, plot 250of FIG. 2a represents the angle averaged performance of an actualdevice, while plot 250 of FIG. 3a represents the theoretical performanceof a collimated beam through a perfect device with slightly thickerwires. FIG. 3a also shows the theoretical reflected beam contrast 255 asmodeled for this prior art type wire grid devices. The calculatedtheoretical reflected beam contrast ranges from ˜10:1 to ˜100:1 over thevisible spectrum, and is only marginally better than the reflected beamcontrast 255 given in FIG. 2a for an actual device. FIG. 3b shows a plotof the theoretical overall contrast ratio 275, where the overallcontrast Cw of the wire grid polarization beamsplitter device isapproximated as:

Cw=1/((1/C _(T))+(1/C _(R)))   (3).

[0037] The overall contrast Cw, which combines the contrast C_(T) of thetransmitted light beam 150 (“p” polarization) with the contrast C_(R) ofthe reflected light beam 140 (“s” polarization), can be seen to bemostly determined by the lowest contrast ratio, which is the contrastfor the reflected light beam. Thus, the overall contrast of the priorart type device per U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,131 is limited by the “s”polarization reflected beam, and is only ˜10:1 to ˜100:1 within thevisible spectrum, with the lowest performance for blue wavelengths.

[0038] Considering again FIG. 4, the preferred relationships of the wiregrid devices within modulation optical system 300 will be discussed ingreater detail. Modulation optical system 300, which is described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,585,378 (Kurtz et al), should be understood to generallybe a portion of some larger electronic projection system, which includesa light source and power supply, drive electronics, and screen, althoughthis modulation optical system may be used for other applications, suchas image printing.

[0039] A full color projection system would employ one modulationoptical system 300 per color (red, green, and blue), with the colorbeams reassembled through the recombination prism 380. The incomingillumination light beam 320 is focused through prepolarizer 330, wiregrid polarization beamsplitter 340, optional compensator 360, and ontospatial light modulator 310 (the LCD) by a condensor 325. Spatial lightmodulator 310 is packaged within spatial light modulator assembly 315,which includes mounting features, a cover glass, and heat sink (all notshown). Condensor 325, which will likely comprise several lens elements,is part of a more extensive illumination system (not shown) whichtransforms the light from the lamp source into a rectangularly shapedregion of nominally uniform light which nominally fills the active areaof spatial light modulator 310. The modulated, image-bearing light beamreflected from the surface of spatial light modulator 310, istransmitted through compensator 360, is then reflected off the nearsurface of wire grid polarization beamsplitter 340, and is nexttransmitted through a second compensator 365 (optional), a polarizationanalyzer 370, and recombination prism 380. In a modulation opticalsystem 300 utilizing a prior art wire grid polarization beamsplitter,the wire grid polarization beamsplitter 340 consists of a dielectricsubstrate 345 with sub-wavelength wires 350 located on one surface (thescale of the wires is greatly exaggerated in FIG. 4). Thereafter, theimage bearing light is projected down optical axis 375 onto a distantscreen (not shown) by projection lens system 385 (only partially shown).Wire grid polarization beamsplitter 340 is disposed for reflection intoprojection lens system 385, thereby avoiding the well known astigmatismand coma aberrations induced by transmission through a tilted plate.

[0040] Compensator 360 is nominally a waveplate which provides a smallamount of retardance needed to compensate for geometrical imperfectionsand birefringence effects which originate at the surface of spatiallight modulator 310. Although a compensator 360 will generally be used,some applications allowing high f# optics may not require it.Compensator 365, which is optional, provides contrast enhancements forpolarization response errors from other components in the system. Forexample, in a three color projection system, compensator 365 could be acolor tuned waveplate provided in any given channel to optimize theperformance through the recombination prism 380. These compensators areused to boost the effective performance of the LCD and wire griddevices, so that the system contrast levels are met or exceeded.

[0041] The construction of modulation optical system 300, as used in adigital cinema application, is defined both by the system specificationsand the limitations of the available wire grid polarizing devices. Inparticular digital cinema requires the electronic projector to providehigh frame sequential contrast (1,000:1 or better). To accomplish this,the polarization optical components, excluding spatial light modulator310 (the LCD) of modulation optical system 300 must provide an overallsystem contrast (Cs) of ˜2,000:1. The actual target contrast for thepolarization optics does depend on the performance of the LCDs. Thus, iffor example, the LCDs provide only ˜1500:1 contrast, then thepolarization optics must provide 3,000:1 contrast. For example, an LCDwith vertically aligned molecules is preferred for uses as spatial lightmodulator 310 due to its high innate contrast. Typically, the contrastperformance of both the LCDs and the polarization optics decreases withincreasing numerical aperture of the incident beam. Unfortunately, withtoday's technologies (see FIG. 3b and overall contrast ratio curve 275)it is not sufficient to use just a single wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter 340 by itself in order to meet the 2,000:1 target contrastfor the polarization optics. For this reason, prepolarizer 330 andpolarization analyzer 370 are both provided as polarization supportcomponents within modulation optical system 300.

[0042] As an example, in green light at 550 nm, wire grid prepolarizer330 has an angle averaged polarization contrast ratio of ˜250:1. Whenused in combination, wire grid polarization beamsplitter 340 and wiregrid prepolarizer 330 produce a contrast ratio of ˜25:1, which falls wayshort of the system requirements. Thus, the prepolarization performanceof overall modulation optical system 300 is also supported with theaddition of polarization analyzer 370 which is preferably a wire gridpolarizer, and is nominally assumed to be identical to wire gridpolarizer 330. Polarization analyzer 370 removes the leakage of lightthat is of other than the preferred polarization state. Thus, theoverall system contrast Cs for green light, directed through modulationoptical system 300 in its entirety, is boosted to ˜2,900:1, which meetsspecification. Performance does vary considerably across the visiblespectrum, with the same combination of wire grid polarizing devicesproviding ˜3,400:1 contrast in the red spectrum, but only ˜900:1contrast in the blue. Certainly, this performance variation could bereduced with the use of color band tuned devices, if they wereavailable.

[0043] The polarization performance of modulation optical system 300 isdetermined by the performance of the wire grid devices in both obviousand non-obvious ways. The overall contrast (Cs) for modulation opticalsystem 300 (ignoring the LCD contribution) can be approximated by:

1/Cs=1/(C _(T1) *C _(T2))+1/(C _(R2) *C _(T3))   (4),

[0044] where C_(T1) is the transmitted contrast of the pre-polarizer330, C_(T2) and C_(R2) are transmitted and reflected contrast ratios forthe wire grid polarization beamsplitter 340, and C_(T3) is thetransmitted contrast for the wire grid polarization analyzer 370. Inthis system, the overall contrast is largely determined by the lowreflected contrast ratio C_(R2) for the wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter 340. The analyzer contrast C_(T3) needs to be quite high tocompensate for the low C_(R2) values (˜30:1). Whereas the transmittedcontrasts C_(T1) and C_(T2) don't need to be particularly high, providedthe respective contrast values are reasonably uniform over the spectrum.Potentially these wire grid contrasts (C_(T1) and C_(T2)) could bemoderated (to ˜100:1) each respectively, in order to boost the wire gridtransmissions through each of these surfaces. Alternately, if thetransmitted contrast C_(T2) was boosted sufficiently (to ˜4,000:1⁺),then pre-polarizer 330 could be eliminated. However, the range of wiregrid devices that are presently commercially available are insufficientto enable such optimizations of modulation optical system 300. Moreover,even if such devices were available, merely replacing the existing wiregrid devices in modulation optical system 300 with better devices thatare refinements of prior art technologies, would not necessarily addressother problems associated with the use of these devices. In summaryequation (4) demonstrates that the manner of combination of the variouspolarization devices can greatly effect the resultant overall contrast.It has also been shown that modulation optical system 300 is bestconstructed with wire grid polarization beamsplitter 340 oriented withthe surface with the sub-wavelength wires 350 facing towards the spatiallight modulator 310, rather than towards the illumination optics(condenser 325) and light source. While the overall contrast (Cs) is˜2,900:1 when this orientation is used, the net contrast dropsprecipitously to ˜250:1 when the alternate orientation (wires on thesurface towards the light source) is used.

[0045] Notably, this preferred orientation, with the sub-wavelengthwires oriented towards the modulator, also helps to reduce the impact ofthermal loading on the performance of modulation optical system 300. Itis known that conventional electronic projection systems, using standardglass polarization prisms (MacNeille type), can suffer thermally inducedstress birefringence effects which impact the image contrast. In thesesystems, the localized polarization states of the image bearing lightare altered by thermally induced stress birefringence in the prismswhich was caused by the heat from the high intensity illumination.Modulation optical system 300 of FIG. 4 reduces this problem by havingthe image bearing beam reflect off wire grid polarization beamsplitter340, rather than be transmitted through it. With this configuration,light is transmitted through wire grid polarization beamsplitter 340 onetime only, while the second interaction with the beamsplitter is only asurface interaction. Thermal stress birefringence and the resultingcontrast loss is further reduced because wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter 340 simply uses less glass (˜1.5 mm thick substrates) thandoes the conventional prism (30-50 mm thickness). Nonetheless, contrastloss from stress birefringence with the conventional wire gridpolarization beamsplitters may still occur. Furthermore, a modulationoptical system, such as the one of FIG. 4, with the image bearing lightreflected off of the polarization beam splitter, is more sensitive towavefront errors from thermally induced substrate deformations, than isthe comparable system with the image bearing light transmitted throughthe polarization beam splitter.

[0046] From the prior discussion, it can be seen that prior art wiregrid polarization beamsplitters, while superior to more conventionaltechnologies, have various properties (thermal stress deformation,thermal stress birefringence, low reflected CR, low blue transmitted CR,orientational sensitivity, etc.) which cause the design of a highcontrast modulation optical system to be less than optimal. Certainly,the performance and design of a modulation optical system would benefitby the existence of improved wire grid polarization beamsplitters. Inparticular, if the performance of the wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter 340 was enhanced, relative to thermal sensitivity,contrast, transmission, and wavelength response (particularly in theblue), modulation optical system 300 could be constructed with fewercomponents and higher net transmission.

[0047]FIG. 5 illustrates the general concepts for a new double sidedwire grid polarizer 400 according to the present invention. Most simply,double sided wire grid polarizer 400 consists of a dielectric substrate405 (preferably glass) with a parallel pattern of sub-wavelength wires430 and grooves 440 formed on a first surface 410 and a second parallelpattern of sub-wavelength wires 430 and grooves 442 formed on a secondsurface 420. As with the prior art devices, these sub-wavelength wiresare conductive electrodes, which are likely made of a metal such asaluminum. First surface 410 is nominally parallel to second surface 420,while the pattern of the sub-wavelength wires 430 of the first surface410 and the pattern of sub-wavelength wires 430 of second surface 420are also nominally parallel to each other. However, the wire patterns onthe two surfaces are not necessarily identical, and indeed, preferablyare different in a controlled and deliberate fashion. It should beunderstood sub-wavelength wires depicted in FIG. 5 are greatlyexaggerated in scale, in order to illustrate their general nature.

[0048] Certainly, other opportunities have been suggested for improvingthe performance of wire grid polarizers generally, and wire gridpolarizers for the visible spectrum in particular. While U.S. Pat. No.6,108,131 describes the basic structure and properties for visiblewavelength wire grid polarizers, U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,103 proposes avariety of improvements to the basic wire grid structure. For example,U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,103 provides methods to broaden the wavelengthspectrum and improve the efficiency and transmitted contrast across thewavelength spectrum of use without requiring finer pitch structures(such as ˜λ/10). In particular, a variety of techniques are employed toreduce the effective refractive index (n) in the medium surrounding thewire grid, in order to shift the longest wavelength resonance band toshorter wavelengths. This is accomplished most simply by coating theglass substrate with a dielectric layer which functions as ananti-reflectional (AR) coating, and then fabricating the wire grid ontothis intermediate dielectric layer. More recently, U.S. Pat. No.6,243,199 describes how wire thickness, wire pitch, groove width, andwire shape, can be varied to optimize transmission and contrast of thetransmitted polarized beam.

[0049] Alternately, U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,111 (Kurtz et al.) suggests analternate design for a wire grid polarizer in which each wire isfabricated with an intra-wire sub-structure of alternating metal anddielectric layers (see FIG. 8c). Unlike the improvements suggested byU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,122,103 and 6,243,199 this application describesopportunities to potentially improve both the reflected beam contrastand the transmitted beam contrast, and thereby improve the combinedoverall contrast (Cw). As noted previously, in optimizing the design ofwire grid polarizers generally, and wire grid polarization beamsplittersin particular (as used in a modulation optical system 300), the overallcontrast is limited by the reflected beam contrast.

[0050] The double sided wire grid polarizer 400 of FIG. 5 is an improvedwire grid device that not only has the potential to improve the overallpolarization contrast, but also provides reduced sensitivity to thermalloading, particularly when it is used within an appropriate modulationoptical system 300, (see FIG. 6a). As stated previously, double sidedwire grid polarizer 400 consists of a dielectric substrate 405 with aparallel pattern of sub-wavelength wires 430 and grooves 440 formed on afirst surface 410 and a second parallel pattern of sub-wavelength wires430 and grooves 442 formed on a second surface 420, where thesub-wavelength wires are nominally metal conductive electrodes. Firstsurface 410 is nominally parallel to second surface 420, while thepattern of the sub-wavelength wires 430 of the first surface 410 and thepattern of sub-wavelength wires 430 of second surface 420 are alsonominally parallel to each other. It should be understood that eachsub-wavelength wire (420 and 430) has a length that is generally largerthan the wavelength of visible light (at least >0.7 μm), and that inactuality the wire lengths are several millimeters, or even centimetersin extent.

[0051] Double sided wire grid polarization beamsplitter 400 has a firstimportant difference compared to the existing devices with metal wiresdeposited only on one side, which is that both surfaces will experienceheating due to light absorption. As a result, the double sided wire gridpolarization beamsplitter 400 will be heated more uniformly than theequivalent single sided device. Heating of this device under the largeheat (light) loads required for high lumen projection applications cancause the device to deform, thereby affecting the transiting wavefrontsand the projected on screen image quality. This is particularly true ina modulation optical system 300, as shown in FIG. 4, where the imagebearing light beam 390 is reflected of the second surface of the wiregrid polarization beam splitter 340. Alternately (see FIG. 6b),modulation optical system 300 could be configured for image bearinglight beam 390 to transmit through the wire grid polarization beamsplitter 340 on its way to the projection lens and screen, but thesystem would then suffer the added aberrations from transmission througha tilted plate. Alternately, the substrate 345 can be made from a lowabsorption glass such as fused silica or a low stress birefringent glasssuch as SF-57, but only at significant expense, and without providingthe other advantages of the double sided structure. The typicalconstruction of a wire grid polarizer also includes the use of adielectric stack coating (an AR coating) on the side opposite that ofthe metal wire grid structure. The stress induced by this stack willtypically vary differentially, both nominally and upon heating, ascompared to the residual stress of the metallic grid coating. Thisuneven stress buildup, upon absorption and heating of the substrate willinduce wavefront degradation. By comparison, as the double sided wiregrid polarization beam splitter 400 will experience heating from lightabsorption within the metal wires on both sides, the device will beheated more uniformly, creating a more balanced surface stress, and thuswill deform less, thereby affecting the transiting wavefronts less.Furthermore, this more uniform heating should also induce less thermalstress birefringence within the substrate 405, thus also enhancing theoverall system contrast of the projected image.

[0052] The concept of a double sided wire grid polarization beamsplitter 400 not only offers the potential for reduced thermalsensitivity, but also opportunities to design a better wire gridpolarization beamsplitter and a better modulation optical system. Thiscan be understood by considering the overall contrast (Cs) formodulation optical system 300 of FIG. 6a (as before, ignoring the LCDcontribution), which can be approximated by:

1/Cs=1/(C _(T1) *C _(T2))+1/(C _(R2) *C _(T3))   (5)

[0053] where C_(T1) is the transmitted contrast through thesubwavelength wires 430 on the first surface 410 of double sided wiregrid polarization beamsplitter 400, C_(T2) is the transmitted contrastthrough the subwavelength wires 430 on the second surface 420 of doublesided wire grid polarization beamsplitter 400, C_(R2) is the reflectedcontrast off the subwavelength wires 430 on the second surface 420 ofdouble sided wire grid polarization beamsplitter 400, and C_(T3) is thetransmitted contrast for the wire grid polarization analyzer 370. Aswith the prior system (FIG. 4), the overall contrast is largelydetermined by the low reflected contrast ratio C_(R2) from the wire gridpolarization beamsplitter. Likewise, as previously, the analyzercontrast C_(T3) needs to be quite high to compensate for the potentiallylow C_(R2) values. Thus, as before, the specifications for thetransmitted contrasts C_(T1) and C_(T2) could be relaxed, thuspotentially allowing the transmission values T₁ and T₂) to be enhancedfor these two surfaces. Certainly, the functional dependencies ofequations (4) and (5) are similar, relative to design adjustments to theconstituent wire grid arrays which could alter contrast andtransmission, thereby allowing optimization of system performance.However, the double sided wire grid polarization beam splitter providesother opportunities to both optimize device and system performance.

[0054] To begin with, pre-polarizer 330 of the prior modulation opticalsystem 300 of FIG. 4, effectively becomes a grid of sub-wavelength wires430 on the first surface 410 of the double sided wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter 400 of FIG. 6a. This provides the immediate advantage thatmodulation optical system 300 of FIG. 6a utilizes one less opticalcomponent, thus potentially enhancing the overall system lightefficiency. Additionally however, use of the double sided structureeffectively positions the “pre-polarizer” wire grid (of surface 410) ata nominal 45° tilt to the incident light beam. As shown in FIG. 7a,which plots both the transmitted (C_(T1)) and reflected (C_(R1))theoretical contrast (205 and 210) vs. polar angle for the first surfacewire grid (for green light (550 nm), and an exemplary structure(aluminum wires, wire grid pitch (p)=144 nm, duty cycle=45%, wire gridthickness (t)=144 nm)), the transmitted contrast gradually increases vs.polar angle. FIG. 7b shows the light efficiency in transmission (T_(P1))and reflection (R_(P1)) for “p” light for this same structure with 144nm thick wires. These graphs show that the first surface wire grid arrayof a double sided wire grid polarizing beamsplitter 400 oriented at 45°,transmits “p” light with a contrast of ˜8,000:1 and a transmissionefficiency of ˜87%.

[0055] An alternate wire grid structure, identical to the first, butwith 100 nm thick aluminum wires can be evaluated using FIGS. 7c and 7d, which plot contrast and efficiency vs. polar angle. In this case, thetheoretical transmitted contrast (C_(T1)) for a 45° oriented wire gridarray has fallen to ˜800:1, while the transmission (T_(P1)) is slightlyhigher at ˜91%. As shown in FIG. 7e, the wire grid array with the 100 nmthick wires also provides a nearly even reflected contrast C_(R1) of˜75:1 vs. wavelength, although the transmitted contrast C_(T1) stillshows the blue fall off typical of most visible wire grid polarizers.While this 100 nm exemplary design has not quite provided an even ˜100:1reflected contrast across the entire visible spectrum, the performanceis significantly improved over existing devices (˜10:1 to 40:1 CR, asshown as curve 210 of FIG. 2a). Yet another alternate wire gridstructure, identical to the first, but with 200 nm thick aluminum wiresinstead of 100 nm or 144 nm thick wires can be evaluated using FIGS. 7fand 7 g, which plot the theoretical transmitted (C_(T1)) and reflected(C_(R1)) contrast ratios and light efficiencies (T_(P1) and R_(P1)) vs.wavelength. These plots indicate that thicker wires theoreticallyincrease the transmitted “p” contrast significantly (C_(T1)>20,000:1),but at the cost of a significant drop in light efficiency (T_(P1)averaging ˜82%) particularly at short wavelengths.

[0056] Considered in their entirety, plots 7 a-g suggest that a thinmetal wire structure is best suited for the first surface 410 of doublesided wire grid polarizer 400, where only a modest contrast(C_(T1)˜100-200:1) is required, while higher transmission (T_(P1)) isvalued. This suggests that an optimal broadband visible spectrum firstsurface wire grid, using simple wire grids with rectangular wires, mayutilize metal wires <100 nm thick, and perhaps only 75-100 nm thick.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 6a, the “p” light transmitted through the wiregrid structure of first surface 410 is further modified (contrastenhanced) by transmission through the second surface 420. Notably, themodeled contrasts C_(T1) and C_(T2) are essentially identical when thesame structure is applied to both surfaces, although the first surfaceprovides an air to glass transition, while the second surface provides aglass to air transition. In this example, transmitted light beam 150passes through an optional compensator 360 and then encounters spatiallight modulator 310, which is nominally a reflective LCD, which modifiesthe polarization state of the incident light on a pixel to pixel basisaccording to the applied control voltages. Intermediate code values,between white and black, reduce the amount of “On” state and increasethe amount of “Off” state light. The “On” state light, which has beenpolarization rotated, is “s” polarization relative to the wire gridstructure of second surface 420. In modulation optical system 300 ofFIG. 6a, this “s” state light reflects off double sided wire gridpolarization beamsplitter 400, is transmitted through an optionalcompensator 365 and polarization analyzer 370, and is subsequentlydirected to the screen by a projection lens (neither of which areshown). Considering again equation (5), the overall contrast C_(s)depends on the reflected contrast C_(R2) and the transmitted contrastC_(T3) of polarization analyzer 370. Polarization analyzer 370, which ispreferentially a wire grid polarizer, is oriented so that the “On” statelight, which had “s” polarization relative to the double sided wire gridpolarization beamsplitter 400, sees this same light as “p” state lightrelative to its' own structure. Polarization analyzer 370 thereforeremoves any alternate polarization leakage light accompanying thedesired “On” state beam.

[0058] As the final image contrast depends critically on the valuesC_(R2) and C_(T3), optimization of the second surface wire gridpolarizer significantly impacts the overall result. As shown in FIG. 7a,the reflected contrast (Rs/Rp) in the green for the 144 nm thick wirestructure peaks (˜2,000:1) near ˜35° tilt, and is still significantlyboosted (˜100:1) at 45° tilt, as compared to normal incidence (˜20:1).This type of broad angular response can be important for fast opticalsystems (f/2.5 for example). Unfortunately, the model of this devicewith 144 nm thick wires shows a very significant variation of reflectedcontrast (Rs/Rp) vs. wavelength, with a dramatic fall-off in the bluespectrum. This compares unfavorably with model for the similar devicewith 100 nm thick wires, which has the relatively even reflectedcontrast response (Rs/Rp) of FIG. 7e.

[0059] In general, reflected contrast (Rs/Rp), unlike transmittedcontrast (Tp/Ts), is hard to control and optimize, particularly when thetransmitted light efficiency T_(P) must also be maximized. Certainly,going to significantly shorter pitch (p˜λ/10, for example) would boostthe reflected contrast. Likewise, more complex metal wire structures(tapered wires, rounded wires, stratified wires, etc . . . ; see FIGS.8a-d) with current wire pitches (p˜λ/4) can be used to variousbeneficial effects, as compared to the basic rectangular wires. Themodeling suggests that the wire grid array with basic rectangularprofile wires can be optimized for both contrast (Rs/Rp ˜100:1 average)and transmission (Tp) by using wires ˜95-115 nm thick. Alternately,these devices could be optimized separately for each color channel, R,G, B for use in an electronic projection system. In that case, themodeling suggests that wire thickness used on the second surface 420 ofdouble sided wire grid polarizing beamsplitter 400 for the green and redchannels may be significantly thicker than would be the case for theblue channel. For example, the device modeled with 144 nm thick wireshas ˜500:1 average reflected contrast Rs/Rp across much of the green andred spectra, while the transmission Tp remains quite high (FIG. 7d).

[0060] If the reflected contrast Rs/Rp could be boosted sufficiently(>500:1, or 2,000:1 for example) for the specified system, thenpolarization analyzer 370 could potentially be eliminated. Alternately,polarization analyzer 370 can have an increased polarization extinctionto compensate for the sub-optimal C_(R2) performance of the wire grid onthe second surface 420 of double sided wire grid polarization beamsplitter 400. However, assuming contrast C_(R2) is only moderately high(˜50-100:1) on average, polarization analyzer 370 could also beoptimized with moderate contrast (˜100-400:1) and maximized transmission(>90%). Thus, the wire grid structures provided for first surface 410and second surface 420 of double sided wire grid polarization beamsplitter 400 may not be identical. Indeed, the wire pitch (p), wirewidth (w), wire thickness (t) and the wire profile or structure may notbe identical from one side to the other.

[0061] The final image quality, relative to contrast, also depends onthe rejection of the second reflection leakage light. Again consideringFIG. 6, the “Off” state light returning from the spatial light modulator310, is transmitted through second surface 420 and first surface 410 ofdouble sided wire grid polarization beam splitter 400. The “Off” statelight at second surface 420 is affected by the wire grid structure onthat surface such that most of this light is transmitted through, whilethe reflected light (Rp) becomes the leakage light which is subsequentlyfurther reduced by polarization analyzer 370. Most of the transmitted“p” polarized light is likewise efficiently transmitted through the wiregrid structure on the first surface 410, and thereby is safely removedfrom the imaging system. There is however a reflection of the firstsurface 410, which is directed towards the imaging system, and whichcould create a defocused ghost image. However, this ghost beam, whichhas a reduced light level compared to the “Off” state leakage lightreflected into the imaging path at second surface 420, is likewiseremoved by polarization analyzer 370.

[0062] The double sided wire grid polarization beam splitter of thepresent invention is notably different than the device described in U.S.Pat. No. 4,289,381 (Garvin), which also describes a wire grid polarizerwith a wire grid structure utilizing two parallel metal wire gridarrays. In particular, the present device is structurally different thanthe device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,381, as that prior art device placesboth parallel wire grid arrays on a first surface, rather thanseparately on a first and second surfaces respectively. Thus the priorart U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,381 device doesn't provide the nominallyequalized thermal loading of both surfaces as does the device of thepresent invention. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,381 specifies adevice which is strictly a very high contrast polarizer, in whichcontrast is maximized (250,000:1) target, while light transmissionefficiency may be sacrificed. By comparison, the device of the presentinvention, seeks to optimize both the contrast and light efficiencies toseek an overall effect, with high contrast (500:1-4,000:1 CR) and highcombined transmitted light efficiency (>80%). Finally, the wire gridpolarizing device of the present invention, with two parallel wire gridstructures residing on two separated surfaces, is primarily intended foruse as a wire grid polarization beam splitter, rather than as a normalincidence optimized polarizer. Therefore, the device of the presentinvention, unlike that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,381, is designed tooptimize both the transmitted beam contrast (Tp/Ts) and the reflectedbeam contrast (Rp/Rs), because both contribute to the overallperformance of an overall modulation optical system.

[0063] While this double sided wire grid polarization beam splitter hasbeen described both as a discrete device, and as a component within alarger modulation optical system, it should be understood that there arevariations which fall within the scope and context of the presentinvention. For example, the metal wires which comprise the individualwire grid structures can be constructed using a variety of otherstructures beyond the basic rectangular wire profile. For example, asshown in FIG. 8a, the sub-wavelength wires 530 could have a taperedstructure 532, which slopes into grooves 540. Tapering is an additionaldesign control parameter, similar to selecting the wire pitch (p), thewire to groove (540) duty cycle, and the wire thickness (t), by whichthe contrast, light efficiency, and wavelength performance of a wiregrid array can be optimized. Likewise, as shown in FIG. 8b, thesub-wavelength wires 530 could have a rounded structure 534. It shouldbe understood that in either case, using tapered or rounded profilewires, wire grid arrays would be formed on both the first surface 510and the second surface 520 of substrate 505, to create a double sidedwire grid polarization beamsplitter 400. The second side wire gridstructures are not shown on FIGS. 8a-d for simplicity of illustration.

[0064] Similarly, FIG. 8c shows an alternate composite wire gridstructure, in which the sub-wavelength wires 530 are constructed withintra-wire substructures 550 comprising alternating metal layers (560,562, and 564) and dielectric layers (570, 572, and 574). This deviceemploys resonance enhanced tunneling through the metal layers, by meansof interaction with the intervening dielectric layers, to enhancetransmission of the “p” polarized light and reflection of the “s”polarized light. The design and performance of wire grid polarizersutilizing this type of intra-wire substructure are described in greaterdetail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,111, which is incorporated herein byreference.

[0065]FIG. 8d shows yet another alternate wire grid structure in whichthe metallic sub-wavelength wires 530 are formed on an intermediatedielectric layer 580, which is in turn in contact with substrate 505.The wire structures of FIGS. 8c and 8 d expand the design parametersmuch further, beyond just control of wire pitch (p), wire width (w),wire thickness (t), wire profile (tapered, rounded, etc . . . ), toenable dramatically enhanced performance. In particular, the reflectedcontrast Rs/Rp, the contrast performance vs. wavelength (particularly inthe blue spectrum) and vs. angle can be enhanced by using these morecomplicated wire structures of FIGS. 8c and 8 d. In the case of thedouble sided wire grid polarizer, use of these complicated alternatewire structures particularly suggest further opportunities to improvethe reflected contrast C_(R2) for the wire grid structure on secondsurface 420. Likewise, use of these complex structures could allow thewire grid structure on the first surface 410 to be designed to assistthe suppression of the ghost leakage light which returned to the thatsurface from the LCD.

[0066] The double sided wire grid polarization beamsplitter of thepresent invention can be fabricated by forming a wire grid array on thefirst surface, flipping the device over, and forming a wire grid arrayon the second surface while protecting the first surface. Alternately,the device could be formed by assembling a double sided wire gridpolarizing beamsplitter by combining two single side devices togetherwith an optical adhesive, liquid, or gel. In some respects, themanufacturing process for the double sided structure need not bedemanding. The relative parallelity of the two wire grid arrays, one tothe other should be maintained, with minimal angular misalignment, inorder to optimize transmission. Obviously, in the extreme ofmis-alignment, as crossed polarizers, effectively no light would betransmitted. However, the tolerance of this angular alignment is fairlyloose, with ˜0.5° mis-alignment being tolerable. In the case that thetwo wire grid arrays of the two respective surfaces have the identicalpitch (p), it is not necessary that the two grids are co-aligned with atightly minimized grid offset 445 (see FIG. 5). The sub-wavelengthwires, or conductive electrodes, are nominally metallic, so as toutilize the very high electrical conductivity of such materials. It isalso beneficial to chose metals that have high optical efficiencies(reflectivities) in the chosen (visible) wavelength band. Therefore,metals such as aluminum, silver, chrome, or nickel, may be used.Presumably conductive electrodes could be formed of other materials,such as ITO (indium tin oxide), but only if both the electricalconductivity and the optical efficiency were high enough to provide thedesired effects.

[0067] Preferably, the thickness (d) of substrate 405 needs to besufficient (>200-500 nm depending on the structure) to avoid resonanceenhanced tunneling effects between the two grid arrays. Otherwise, withresonance enhanced tunneling, the two wire grid arrays would effectivelyact as one device, rather than two parallel devices, and the performancewould be greatly changed. In practice, the substrate thickness willlikely be in the 0.5-3.0 mm range. Alternately, the double sided wiregrid polarizer could be constructed with a thin (<0.15 mm) substrate,with the wire grids of the two surfaces deliberately co-aligned, in anattempt to deliberately utilize resonance enhanced tunneling through themetal wires (as in FIG. 8c), according to the concepts described in U.S.Pat. No. 6,532,111. While such a device could still benefit by theexpected more uniform heating of both sides, as the substrate thicknesswould be minimal, device fabrication would likely be extremelydifficult.

[0068] It should also be understood that the double sided wire gridpolarization beamsplitter of the present invention could be utilizedwith the imaging light being transmitted through the device, as shown inFIG. 6b, rather than reflected off of it as depicted in FIG. 6a.Likewise, it should be understood that the double sided wire gridpolarization beamsplitter could be used with a pre-polarizer instead ofan analyzer, or by itself, without either pre-polarizer or polarizationanalyzer.

[0069] The invention has been described in detail with particularreference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will beunderstood that variations and modifications can be effected within thescope of the invention.

Parts List

[0070]100. Wire grid polarizer

[0071]110. Parallel conductive electrodes

[0072]120. Dielectric substrate

[0073]130. Beam of light

[0074]132. Light source

[0075]140. Reflected light beam

[0076]150. Transmitted light beam

[0077]200. Transmission efficiency curve

[0078]205. Transmitted contrast ratio curve

[0079]210. Reflected contrast ratio curve

[0080]220. Transmission efficiency curve

[0081]225. Reflected contrast ratio curve

[0082]250. Transmitted beam contrast

[0083]255. Reflected beam contrast

[0084]275. Overall contrast ratio

[0085]300. Modulation optical system

[0086]310. Spatial light modulator

[0087]315. Modulator assembly

[0088]320. Illumination beam

[0089]325. Condensor

[0090]330. Pre-polarizer

[0091]340. Wire grid polarization beamsplitter

[0092]345. Substrate

[0093]350. Sub-wavelength wires

[0094]360. Compensator

[0095]365. Compensator

[0096]370. Polarization analyzer

[0097]375. Optical axis

[0098]380. Recombination prism

[0099]385. Projection lens system

[0100]390. Image bearing light beam

[0101]400. Double sided wire grid polarizer

[0102]405. Substrate

[0103]410. First surface

[0104]420. Second surface

[0105]430. Sub-wavelength wires

[0106]440. Grooves

[0107]442. Grooves

[0108]445. Offset

[0109]505. Substrate

[0110]510. First surface

[0111]520. Second surface

[0112]530. Sub-wavelength wires

[0113]532. Tapered structure

[0114]534. Rounded structure

[0115]540. Grooves

[0116]550. Intra-wire substructure

[0117]560. Metal layer

[0118]562. Metal layer

[0119]564. Metal layer

[0120]570. Dielectric layer

[0121]572. Dielectric layer

[0122]574. Dielectric layer

[0123]580. Intermediate dielectric layer

What is claimed is:
 1. A wire grid polarizer for polarizing an incidentlight beam, comprising: a substrate having a first surface and a secondsurface; a first array of parallel, elongated electrically conductivewires disposed on said first surface, wherein each of said wires arespaced apart at a grid period less than a wavelength of said incidentlight; a second array of parallel, elongated electrically conductivewires disposed on said second surface, and wherein said second array ofwires are oriented parallel to said first array of wires; and whereineach of said wires are spaced apart at a grid period less than awavelength of said incident light.
 2. A wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter for polarizing an incident light beam, comprising: asubstrate having a first surface and a second surface; a first array ofparallel, elongated wires disposed on said first surface, wherein eachof said wires are spaced apart at a grid period less than a wavelengthof said incident light; a second array of parallel, elongated wiresdisposed on said second surface, and wherein said second array of wiresare oriented parallel to said first array of wires; wherein each of saidwires of said second array are spaced apart at a grid period less than awavelength of said incident light; wherein said wires of both said firstand second arrays have high electrical conductivity; and wherein thedesigns of first and second arrays are optimized differently to providedifferent polarization based responses relative to performanceattributes such as contrast and light efficiency.
 3. A wire gridpolarization beamsplitter for polarizing an incident light beam as inclaim 2 which has a design for said first and second arrays that isoptimized for a portion of the light spectrum, as exemplified by anoptimization for the visible color spectrum involving one or morecolors, of red, green, or blue, respectively.
 4. A modulation opticalsystem for providing high contrast modulation of an incident light beamcomprising: (a) a prepolarizer for pre-polarizing said beam of light toprovide a polarized beam of light; (b) a wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter for receiving said polarized beam of light, fortransmitting said polarized beam of light having a first polarization,and for reflecting said polarized beam of light having a secondpolarization orthogonal to said first polarization wherein one of saidpolarized beams of light is then incident onto a reflective spatiallight modulator; (c) wherein said reflective spatial light modulatorreceives said polarized beam of light, having either a firstpolarization or a second polarization, and selectively modulates saidpolarized beam of light to encode data thereon, providing both modulatedlight and unmodulated light which differ in polarization; (d) whereinsaid reflective spatial light modulator reflects back both saidmodulated light and said unmodulated light to said wire gridpolarization beamsplitter; (e) wherein said wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter separates said modulated light from said unmodulated light;(f) a polarization analyzer receives said modulated light, and whichfurther removes any residual unmodulated light from said modulatedlight; and (g) wherein said wire grid polarization beamsplitter is adouble sided wire grid polarization beamsplitter comprising a substratehaving both a first surface and a second surface; (i) a first array ofparallel, elongated wires are disposed on said first surface; (ii) asecond array of parallel, elongated wires are disposed on said secondsurface, where said second array of wires are oriented parallel to saidfirst array of wires; (iii) wherein each of said wires of said arrayshave a high electrical conductivity and are spaced apart at a gridperiod less than a wavelength of said incident light; and (iv) whereinthe designs of first and second arrays are optimized differently toprovide different polarization based responses relative to performanceattributes such as contrast and light efficiency.
 5. A modulationoptical system as in claim 4 wherein said reflective spatial lightmodulator receives said polarized beam of light having a firstpolarization state transmitted through said wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter.
 6. A modulation optical system as in claim 4 wherein saidreflective spatial light modulator receives said polarized beam of lighthaving a second polarization state reflected from said wire gridpolarization beamsplitter.
 7. A modulation optical system as in claim 4wherein either or both of said pre-polarizer and said polarizationanalyzer are a wire grid polarizer.
 8. A modulation optical system inaccordance with claim 7 wherein a compensator is provided to enhance thepolarization contrast response of the spatial light modulator and/orother polarization components.
 9. A modulation optical system forproviding modulation of an incident light beam, comprising: (a) a doublesided wire grid polarization beam splitter with a substrate having botha first surface and a second surface; (i) a first array of parallel,elongated wires are disposed on said first surface; and (ii) a secondarray of parallel, elongated wires are disposed on said second surfacewhere said second array of wires are oriented parallel to said firstarray of wires; (1) wherein each of said wires of said arrays have ahigh electrical conductivity and are spaced apart at a grid period lessthan a wavelength of said incident light; and (2) wherein the designs offirst and second arrays are optimized differently to provide differentpolarization based responses relative to performance attributes such ascontrast and light efficiency; wherein said double sided wire gridpolarization beam splitter transmits a first polarization state of saidincident light beam and reflects a second polarization state of saidincident light beam wherein said second polarization state is orthogonalto said first polarization state; (c) a reflective spatial lightmodulator having a plurality of individual elements which alter saidpredetermined polarization state of said transmitted polarized lightbeam to provide said image bearing beam that then reflects back to saiddouble sided wire grid polarization beamsplitter, said image bearingbeam then reflecting off of said double sided wire grid polarizationbeamsplitter; and (d) a polarization analyzer which transmits said imagebearing light beam and attenuates unwanted polarization componentsaccompanying said image bearing light beam.
 10. A modulation opticalsystem in accordance with claim 9 wherein said spatial light modulatoris a liquid crystal display (LCD).
 11. A modulation optical system inaccordance with claim 9 wherein said double sided wire grid polarizationbeam splitter has a design for said first and second arrays that isoptimized for a portion of the visible color spectrum.
 12. A modulationoptical system in accordance with claim 9 wherein said double side wiregrid polarization beamsplitter is heated from both sides of saidsubstrate, thereby reducing stress induced birefringence within saiddouble side wire grid polarization beamsplitter.
 13. A modulationoptical system in accordance with claim 9 wherein a compensator isprovided to enhance the polarization contrast response of the spatiallight modulator and/or other polarization components.